What did al-Nawawi say about good character?
Al-Nawawi's Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn has entire chapters on the manners of speech, company, eating, entering homes, responding to greetings — the classical manual of Muslim character.
10 passages from 6 books in the library
On good character (akhlaq), the cited passages — from al-Ghazali's Ihya — teach that it is the heart of the religious life. "Good character leads to good deeds," he writes, and "fosters love, unity, and harmony, whereas bad character leads to enmity, envy" and division. Outward manners, he explains, "reflect inner manners, and the movements of the limbs are the fruits" of the soul within. Because character can be changed through discipline, al-Ghazali devotes whole chapters to refining it — and quotes al-Kanani: "Sufism is character; whoever surpasses you in character surpasses" you in the path.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 6 books by Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"character. Good character leads to good deeds, while perfection of intellect results in extensive"
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"Good character fosters love, unity, and harmony, whereas bad character leads to enmity, envy,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Abu Shaykh Ibn Hibban included it in the book, Akhlaq Rasul Allah, character of the Messenger"
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"and good character, those harmful in both, like ignorance and bad character, those beneficial"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"For instance, we say, this is a good character, a good knowledge, a good conduct, and these"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"The outward manners reflect inner manners, and the movements of the limbs are the fruits"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"The outward manners reflect inner manners, and the movements of the limbs are the fruits"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"the reality of good character, the possibility of changing character through discipline,"
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"the means to attain good character, methods to refine character and discipline the soul,"
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"Al-Kanani observed, Sufism is character, so whoever surpasses you in character surpasses"
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